


Day Two Hundred Seventy-Two || Future

by 365daysofsasuhina



Series: 365 Days of SasuHina 2019 [272]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-08 22:53:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20843360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/365daysofsasuhina/pseuds/365daysofsasuhina
Summary: Uchiha Sasuke's vision for the future had been incredibly narrow. But in the end...it turned out nothing like he expected.





	Day Two Hundred Seventy-Two || Future

Many years ago, Uchiha Sasuke did not consider the future outside of a singular idea. That being the vengeance gained for his slaughtered clan when he finally eliminated their murderer: his elder brother, Itachi. A secondary goal to restore his clan was...vague and half-hearted at best. Partially because he didn’t yet realize just what such a goal would take. Partially because he knew full well that he may die in pursuit of his revenge.

And partially because he had no romantic inclinations until late into his teens.

Sasuke spent nearly every day after his release from Konoha’s hospital a few days after the massacre training, one way or another. Be it practicing his taijutsu, his bukijutsu, his ninjutsu. Or doing extensive study on any subject that offered an inkling of advantage. Seals, chakra rationing, even the history of Konoha and his clan. He couldn’t waste a single moment...because every one he let slip away was another spent with his clan in turmoil, surely trapped in a kind of limbo while they awaited justice for their untimely deaths, from elders to children.

He wouldn’t - couldn’t - let them down.

Beyond his eventual goal, Sasuke took life one day at a time. Get up, eat, train, eat, clean himself up, sleep...repeat. Barely any variation save for whatever obstacles life threw at him. His time at the Academy was spent obsessively studying and practicing. Upon being assigned a genin team, he felt held back by immature missions, and even more immature teammates. Even his sensei seemed too aloof, not giving his goal true consideration. Kakashi didn’t seem to care that Sasuke was so driven. He still held him to the same standards - the same routines - as the dead-last and the annoying girl that was far more focused on him than her shinobi career.

He became so blinkered, that any interruption - any waste of time - was unforgivable. Naruto’s incessant bickering was infuriating. Sakura’s attempts to distract him for her own selfish desires were aggravating. Kakashi’s lack of drive and refusal to take him seriously was a source of constant irritation. Naruto called himself his friend. Sakura claimed to love him. Kakashi, once things got bad enough, tried to relate to Sasuke and his own childhood actions.

But none of them..._none of them_ truly understood. And it was clear in their actions. In no way did they attempt to help him. Instead, they impeded him at every given opportunity.

And yet…

...and yet…

Buried beneath the anger, the hurt, the obsession...was the same caring little boy that fed stray cats in the Uchiha compound, and spoke softly to his classmates, and eagerly vied for the attention of his peers and betters. Because at the root of Uchiha Sasuke’s character...was a deep and unbreakable caring for people.

Why else would be try so hard for people now dead? Because he loved them. Because their deaths were a grave injustice. Everything else? The hatred, the fury, the drive? Was to shelter and protect that ideal from the corruption of his brother. He had to hate him. Had to be angry. Had to strive every moment of every day, or he would fail.

Fail _them_.

So, despite the aggravations they caused him, despite the impediment of his goals, despite his overall annoyance toward his team...they were his team. They were, in some sense, like family. It’s why he threw himself between Haku’s needles and Naruto. Why he fought so hard against Gaara to save Sakura’s life. Why he tried so hard when Kakashi finally took him for solo training. These people, whether he liked them or not, were tied to him. And he couldn’t deny that.

Not even when he left.

They were the first glimmers of hope for a future. That maybe something could exist for him when all was said and done. When the Uchiha were avenged, maybe...he could shed his layers he’d built up to protect that core.

But until then, to save himself - to save them - he cut his ties. Nothing could hold him back from this destiny. This goal. This purpose that had become the center of his very being.

And just as he thought justice was his - just as Itachi lay dead at his feet - everything shattered.

..._everything_.

Itachi was not the culprit. He was the puppet. The puppet of the village Sasuke had been born in, grown in. They had betrayed their own, ignoring their abuse and their wants for freedom...and met them instead with blades and subterfuge.

...and what did his team do when they learned this truth?

Nothing.

That...had been a blow almost akin to learning that truth. The betrayal Sasuke felt when Naruto knew that Konoha had killed his clan, and yet still tried to drag him ‘home’. The audacity of Sakura trying to end his path for justice by killing him, to put him out of his misery…? The sheer hypocrisy of Kakashi, too loyal to a bloody-handed village to see _why_ Sasuke abandoned them - they who chose Konoha over their teammate, friend, love, student - was too much.

In that moment...he truly did hate them.

And those dreams of that future died in the fires of that hate.

How dare they…? How _dare_ they?! How dare any of them uphold a system that produced the most virulent ‘villains’ of the ages? Madara, Obito, even Sasuke himself in some minds...all products of the shinobi system and its broken ideas of loyalty and servitude to the state...even if it means wiping out a bloodline long used and abused by the village they helped create.

So Sasuke saw a new future. One with a slate wiped clean. Dead kage, dismantled villages...whatever it took to destroy that which had made his monster.

And who would stop him...but Naruto?

Even with the ultimate powers granted to him, Sasuke still couldn’t best him. It felt cruel. To be once again shackled to Konoha, to the system of shinobi. It was either that, or death. And death was no future.

So...he gave in.

...but not completely.

Upon the return of Itachi, raised from the grave, Sasuke found - at last - his final calling. To see Konoha’s shadows burned in the light of truth and justice. They would confront the council. They would reveal the truth behind the massacre. Itachi would be pardoned and seen for the hero he truly was: someone forced to make an impossible choice by killing the few to save the many. Neither of them were perfect, and neither claimed to be. But both were done wrong by the village they’d been born in. Given so much of their lives to.

And if Sasuke could not change the world...he would change Konoha.

They had allies. The Hyūga stood with them, debts owed thrice over to one of their own. Cousin clans stood together to shed light on the past.

And it was that act that revealed to Sasuke - even if time would have to pass before he realized - the largest part of his _true_ future.

Hinata had been a virtual stranger. There had been brief meetings during clan talks, and they’d attended the Academy together. Took their first chūnin exams together. But they had never really talked. Sasuke had no recollection of her, really, upon his return to Konoha outside a vague impression of a quiet, shy, but seemingly good-hearted little girl.

A girl who had grown into a fierce defender of what she believed in, and the people she cared for. Whose gentle nature was backed by an iron will. In some ways...she reminded him of himself. He had a basic respect for her, especially as she worked with their clan to help bolster them in their singular numbers. She wasn’t overbearing like many of her clansmen, but instead warm and diligent, paying close attention to the needs and comforts of others.

She was...calming. Quiet, like himself, they could sit in a companionable silence when brought together: be it for clan business, or being dragged along by shared friends or acquaintances. Her temper meshed against his own almost shockingly well. And while everyone else walked on eggshells, she simply went on like business as usual.

It was unbelievably refreshing.

For the first time, he felt he could be _heard_. He didn’t have to bicker with her like Naruto. He didn’t have to know he wasn’t being listened to like with Sakura. She treated him like she treated everyone else. And their parallels served as a basis of understanding he’d really found in no one else, not even Naruto.

Once he realized how well they got on...he sought her out like a plant in a dark room, reaching for a crack bleeding light. Everything about her just felt...right. Comforting. Comfortable. Nothing forced, nothing expected, just...someone who listened. Who understood.

...and then he realized that he loved her. In his nineteen years, he’d never felt love like that before. Love for family, yes. Love for friends, sure. But love in another half? In someone who made him feel...whole?

...he was terrified.

Partly due to inexperience. Partly due to a fear of driving her away. But mostly due to fearing his reputation’s effect on her own.

But Hinata, of course, refuted it as soon as he brought it up. Her life had nearly been lost so many times...and several times in pursuit of a love never returned. But now, she had someone who made her feel seen. Who she didn’t have to fight for his attention. She and Sasuke just...worked. Never had she felt so connected to and understood by someone. There would be - could be - no one else. And she would gladly risk her reputation - or her life - for such a love.

...so he agreed. And together, they took their first steps into a future for two.

**Author's Note:**

> Phew, finally done with this one! I'm still technically a day late (and probably will be for...quite some time as I do another ship month for October), but at least I'm more caught up than I was lol
> 
> This piece is more...narrative and introspective. I love love LOVE getting inside Sasuke's mind. He's such an intriguing character to me. Even more so, admittedly, than Hinata (though I still love her to pieces). I love thinking about and studying his story, and imagining how it could go post-war in another verse with Hinata. Even recently I've changed a small portion of my view of him yet again - seems he's still evolving for me, even after all this time. There's just so much potential for expansion for him...and so much of it wasted in canon by Kishi just sweeping everything tidily after 699. It really irks me xD
> 
> But, it's late and I'm rambling! Thanks for reading!


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